Skirt-marker.



A. A. HALL.

SKIRT MARKER.

APPLIOATION IILED JAN. 30. 1911.

1 ,O23,842, Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Inventor,

by I I v 1 Attorney;

COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co.. WASHINGTON, I2. 6.

A. A. HALL. SKIRT MARKER.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 30, 1911. 1,023,842. Patented Apr.23, 1912.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Attorneys Inventor,

-UTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALICE A. HALL, OF HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA.

SKIRT-MARKER.

new and useful Skirt-Marker, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to measuring 1nstruments, and more especlally to those adapted for use on cloth; and the object of the same is to produce an apparel apparatus adapted to accurately measure the height from the ground of the hem or lower edge of a skirt while it is on the person of the prospective wearer.

To this end the invention consists in the details of construction hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shown in the drawings wherein Figure 1 is a front elevation, partly in section, showing this device in use within a skirt supposed to be sustained by the person of the prospective wearer. Fig. 2 is a perspective view of one section or quarter of the device. Fig. 3, is a perspective view of a portion of the lower band. Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective details of fragmentary portions of sections of the lower and upper bands respectively. Fig. 6 is a fragmentary detail of the hook end of either band. Fig. 7 is a similar view of a slightly modified form which may be given to the body of either band. Fig. 8 is a sectional detail of a slightly modified form which may be given to the stretcher members, or to the outermost member particularly.

My invention comprises principally a base shown herein as made-in sections, brackets projecting from this base, a stretcher carried by each bracket and including two relatively adjustable members.

The base is by preference made in sections which as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 2 may be quadrants although of course they might be each one third or perhaps one half of a complete circular plate 5 adapted to rest upon the floor, and each section has upon its upper surface a socket 6 opening toward and at its outer curved edge 7 There are as many brackets as there are sections, and each comprises an L-shaped body whose inner arm 8 is detachably inserted within the socket 6 of its respective base section 5, and whose upper arm 9 is vertically slotted as at 10 and may be provided with a gradu- Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed January 30, 1911.

Patented Apr. 23, 1912.

Serial No. 605,514.

ated scale 11 as seen in Fig. 1. The bracket of each section carries a stretcher which is composed of two members, each being of metal and of L-shaped cross section as best .seen in Fig. 2. The member 20 is solid excepting for a hole near its inner end in its upright portion 21, through which passes a screw bolt 22 receiving a winged nut 23 on its inner end and having a head 24 at its outer end. The member 25 is longitudinally slotted as at 26 in its upright portion 27 which slides outside the upright portion 21 of the member 20, the slot being so disposed as to pass over the shank of the bolt 22 beneath its head 24. The curvature of these members is such that they complement each other, so that one may be moved telescopically upon the other, and as the member 20 is held by the bolt 22 and the member 25 moves over said bolt 22 the last member may be called the adjustable one and the other the fixed one. However, by loosening the wing nut both members may be adj usted vertically in the slot 10 of the bracket as will be clear, and hence the stretcher entire is vertically adjustable. Moreover, each base section with its bracket and stretcher is radially adjustable from a common center by removing the base upon the floor, and if there are four such base sections (or it might be if there were three) they could be adjusted inward toward and outward from said common center and the extremities of them respective stretchers could be caused to lap each other in a manner which will be clear.

In connection with so much of my invention as has been already described, I consider it desirable to employ some means for positively attaching the skirt to the figure of the wearer and for binding the hem of the skirt under the stretchers, the first to prevent slipping and the second to permit marking with a high degree of accuracy; for the purpose of my invention is to mark a skirt at a desired distance above the ground and in such manner that, no matter how inaccurate the eye of the operator, the lower edge of the skirt may be positively cut off and hemmed so that it shall hang at precisely the same distance from the ground width at one end as at 81 and bent over into a hook 32. At intervals through the body of the tape near its other end is formed a series of holes or eyes 33, and from each eye a slot 3a extends upward to the edge of the tape or band 80. The uppermost band is also serrated or toothed as at 35 along its upper edge, the serrations being by preference so disposed that the slots 3% come in their lower angles.

In the use of my improved skirt marker, the several sections 5 are placed upon the floor (or in fact it might be upon a table) around a common center and spaced from each other as the necessities of the case may require. The prospective wearer of the skirt then takes her stand upon the said sections, her weight holding them firmly in place after they have been properly adjusted with reference to each other. The inner arms 8 of the several brackets are then inserted in the several sockets 6, and the outer upright arm 9 of each bracket carries its stretcher. The fixed members 20 of the latter are all caused to project in one direc tion from their respective brackets, and the adjustable members 25 are then moved each toward the fixed member 20 of the stretcher next adjacent until their contiguous ends touch or perhaps lap each other so that the lower end of the skirt may be properly distended. Previously, meanwhile, or subse quently the several stretchers are raised or lowered so that their upper edges fall opposite the marks on the scales 11 indicating the number of inches from the support which the lower edge of the skirt is desired to stand; and finally when the wing nuts are set up tight the parts will stand as best seen in Fig. 1 wherein the skirt is illustrated by dotted lines. In measuring this garment, I prefer to secure it around the waist of the wearer by means of the band best seen in Fig. 5 whose serrated or toothed upper edge 35 will hold the garment positively from being drawn downward as the operator moves it into place. This band is obviously passed tightly around the waist and its hook 32 moved through the proper slot 34: into its eye 33. WVhen it falls into place in the latter the band may be released but will hold the garment at its waistline properly, firmly, and positively upon the wearer. As the lower edge of said garment is drawn downward about the outer or horizontal portions of the several members of the stretcher, the upper band resists this downward pull with positive efficiency. Finally the lowermost band 30 is applied around the several members of the stretcher, whereby the extreme lower edge or hem of the garment is drawn in under the horizontal portions of said stretcher members so that a distinct angle A appears entirely around the garment; and it is obvious that the operator by running a chalk along that lightness, cheapness, and ease of storage.

For when the various parts are disconnected from each other the whole can be placed within a comparatively small compass and boxed and stored away.

Doubtless the device will find its greatest use by dressmakers or others who frequently have occasion to mark skirts, and if so it may be found more convenient to make the base 5 in one circular or disk-shaped piece and perhaps to have two or three disks of various sizes for use at different times. Even so, it is quite obvious that the inner arms 8 of the various brackets might be adjusted inward or outward by means of set screws 50 which I have illustrated in Fig. 1 simply as suggestive of one means for carrying out this possible modification. Other modifications might. also be adopted, either in this particular or in others; but I am free to say that I prefer that nothing shall rise above the sockets 6 because it might interfere with the feet of the wearer, and adjustment at this point is absolutely unnecessary if the base be made in sections according to my preferred manner of construction. The entire device is preferably of metal, including the bands.

Modifications or amplifications of my idea are illustrated in Figs. 7 and 8. In the former I show a flange 300 bent upward obliquely from the lower edge of the flange 30 and extending to its outer side, and obviously this flange will be useful in holding the hooked end of the band alined with the other end and the shank of its hook 32 in one of the eyes. It may be that said hook will have to be sprung a litle in the act of passing it into place, because the flange on the hook end will then be engaged beneath the flange on the other end, but if the band be made of elastic metal this springing will be possible. In Fig. 8 I have shown how one or both of the members 20 and 25 (and especially the latter) may have a flange 270 projecting outward from the lower edge of its upright portion 27, and the obvious function of this flange is to hold the band from slipping off of the members after ithas been tightened around them.

hat is claimed as new is 1. A skirt marker comprising flat sections adapted to rest on the floor and capable of radial adjustment toward and from a common center, a socket upon each section opening radially outward, an L-shaped bracket whose inner arm removably enters said socket and whose upright arm is vertically slotted, a stretcher consisting of two members of L-shaped cross section and of equal curvature throughout their length, one member having its upright portion longitudinally slot-ted and sliding within the upright portion of the other member, a screw bolt passing through the inner end of the solid member, the slot in the other member, and the slot in the bracket, and a wing nut on its inner end.

2. In a skirt marker, a stretcher made in sections each consisting of a solid member and a longitudinally slotted member telescoping therewith in a horizontal direction, a base made in sections radially adjustable from and toward a common point, a bracket having an upright portion carried by each base section, and means for securing each stretcher section to the upright portion of said bracket at a desired height and for simultaneously holding the members of the stretcher in their horizontally adjusted position; of a band for surrounding the lower edge of the skirt and binding it against the upright portions of the various stretchermembers beneath their horizontal portions.

3. In a skirt marker, the combination with a stretcher capable of distention in a horizontal plane, of a base upon which the wearer stands, L-shaped brackets having their lower arms removably secured to said base and their upright arms slotted, and unitary means engaging the slots therein for simultaneously holding the stretcher distended and supporting the same at the desired height from the base in the length of said slots.

4. In a skirt marker, the combination with stretcher sections each consisting of a horizontal portion and an upright portion depending from the inner edge of said horizontal portion, the upright portion of the outermost member being slotted longitudinally, and an upwardly projecting flange extending from the lower edge of one of 'said members, the said members being adjustable longitudinally upon each other, and means for supporting them; of a band for surrounding the lower edge of a skirt and binding it against the upright portions of the various members beneath their horizontal portions and above said flange.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto aflixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

ALICE A. HALL.

WVit-nesses CHAS. H. SPENoE, ELIZABETH MORRIS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

